$50K shark grant less than hoped for

In the wake of an attack by a great white shark on a Colorado man last summer in Truro, representatives from nine Cape towns, Nantucket and the Cape Cod National Seashore met in Orleans Town Hall in December to begin working on regional approaches to protecting the public.

ORLEANS — In the wake of an attack by a great white shark on a Colorado man last summer in Truro, representatives from nine Cape towns, Nantucket and the Cape Cod National Seashore met in Orleans Town Hall in December to begin working on regional approaches to protecting the public.

One tangible result of that meeting was a $262,500 grant request to the state to expand a shark-tagging program and create signs and brochures to warn and educate beachgoers.

This week, the towns were notified they would receive only $50,000 of the Community Innovation Challenge Grant money they requested.

Orleans Harbormaster Dawson Farber said it was disappointing but understandable given the state's fiscal woes. He said the $50,000 would likely go toward the signs and brochures.

According to the grant application, $162,000 would have paid for 500 signs at beaches warning of the possible presence of sharks, as well as a number of larger educational signs and 750,000 informational brochures.

Proponents hoped education could help keep people from entering the water at dangerous places and times, and lessen the fear factor, and consequently the impact on the economy, if a second attack occurred.

The remaining $100,000, which would have paid for 30 more receivers capable of hearing signals emitted by tagged sharks and 20 more acoustic shark tags, was not funded, according to Farber and state Division of Marine Fisheries shark scientist Greg Skomal.

Skomal currently has 21 receivers moored in relatively shallow waters off Chatham, Orleans, Wellfleet, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Cuttyhunk. They recognize individual signals from 23 great whites tagged in the past three years.

Skomal intended to ask participating towns where they wanted receivers placed as part of an effort to plug gaps in the location of these listening posts.

"The only towns with any sizable coverage are Orleans and Chatham," Skomal said. While that may have made sense because the large seal colony on Monomoy is close to beaches in both those towns, great whites have been spotted and tracked all along the coastline.

"Everyone suspected that if someone got bit, it would have been in Orleans or Chatham, and then it happens in Truro," Skomal said.

Farber, who is chairman of the regional committee tasked with addressing public safety issues, said he had no plans at the moment concerning how to find more money for the proposed initiatives. The group will meet again next month.

Funding of any kind is very tight. Last year's challenge grants saw $4 million split by 27 recipients. This year, the pot was smaller, with just $2.25 million awarded to the same number of successful applicants.

It's even more competitive for great white research, which has no dedicated funding stream. Although the state Division of Marine Fisheries does pay for the hours Skomal and his assistant, John Chisolm, spend researching great whites, the cost of boats, tags and crew is financed through private donations by corporations, foundations and individuals.

One group of citizens, concerned about the lack of funding for great white research, formed its own nonprofit organization.

Cynthia and Ben Wigren, part-time Orleans residents, and full-time residents Priscilla Bloomfield and Ryan Smith recently received approval from the Internal Revenue Service for private nonprofit status for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. They hope to raise tens of thousands of dollars to pay the expenses of scientists like Skomal and for public education about great whites.

"We're a small group hoping to make an impact however we can," said Cynthia Wigren. "Given that sharks have been researched here since at least 2009, I was surprised no one else had started (fundraising)."

The group, which now consists of only the two couples, is hoping to host fundraising events this year, but already has embarked on creating a great white shark license plate.

Martha's Vineyard artist Paul McPhee has donated a color illustration that the group hopes the state Registry of Motor Vehicles will approve and then begin collecting the 3,000 orders required to produce the plate.

Skomal said a nonprofit connection really helps since donors are sometimes reluctant to write a check to the state and are happy to get the tax deduction for their donation.

"She's passionate about it," Skomal said of Wigren. "We certainly welcome the efforts. Every dollar counts."